Stuck on the Puzzle
by DeadStar3
Summary: Explores the character of Jade West outside of her relationship with Beck Oliver.
1. Prologue

******_Disclaimer: I do not own the show, the characters or anything like that._**

* * *

**Prologue**

_'Didn't know there was an end of the road' _

_..._

"I'm home." Jade West muttered to no one it particular as she walked through the front door of her house, kicking her leg out backwards to close it.

Unsurprisingly, nobody was home. Nobody was ever home.

She sighed heavily as she took in the eerie silence of her house. Normally she relished in it, but tonight it almost seemed suffocating.

Her feet felt heavy as she dragged them up the stairs, and made her way to her room.

Everything had been a blur since she left the Vega residents; as if she had been operating on auto-pilot.

Opening the door, Jade entered her room slowly. She softly closed it behind her and leaned against it, closing her eyes as she took a couple of deep breaths.

She couldn't believed she had walked away. She couldn't believe he had let her. They had broken up before, and normally she would visit his RV later that night where a screaming match would ensue, but they would always get back together. This one, however, felt real. It felt permanent.

Permanent.

The reality of the break-up seemed to set in once in the solitude of her bedroom. Everything in her room reminded her of him, her room even smelled like him.

Her phone started ringing for what must have been the fifth time tonight, and she threw it against the wall in a fit of rage, screaming with all her might as she began trashing her room, ruining anything that physically reminded her of him.

The humiliation of him not opening the door still fresh in mind.

...

The next few days had gone by in a blur, and she had spent every waking minute of it in her room, alternating between crying hysterically and angrily cutting up items he had left behind.

She had been lying in her bed, the sound of Radiohead's _how to disappear completely _floating around in the air; filling the emptiness that now fulfilled her, when she had gotten a message on her surprisingly still functioning pear-phone about a party.

At first she had been reluctant to go, content with her wallowing, and continuous snapping at her mother and younger brother, but a visit to her ex-boyfriends _slap page_ had her anger returning with a vengeance.

She was absolutely going to that party.

...

The music continued to blare as Jade stepped out of the house and unto the front porch, perching herself on the top step.

Her mind kept replaying what had happened a few days earlier at the Vega residents, because Beck just had to prove to her that _'their_' friends couldn't stand them fighting either.

_"I'm gonna walk out that door and I'm gonna count to ten-"_

_"Don't forget three," Cat reminded her, _so innocent, so blissfully unaware of what was to come._ "Some people forget it."_

_Overlooking Cat's comment, Jade continued speaking. "If I get to ten and you're not out there..." She paused for a beat "I'm going home, and we're over."_

She started laughing sardonically as she remembered how well her ultimatum had turned out. Her heart had shattered into several small sharp-edged pieces when the door remained closed by the time she had reached the number ten.

Jade's vision began to blur and her eyes sting, and she blinked feverishly to keep the tears at bay. She was not going to cry. She had done enough of that already, and she needed to get herself together.

However being forlorn and drunk was not a great combination, and this party was awful. She had only stayed for the alcohol.

She tossed her head back as she emptied the last of her vodka, before tossing the bottle into a nearby bush.

"Tsk-tsk, that's not very nice."

"I'm not a very nice person." Jade shot back without missing a beat.

"I know." the boy replied knowingly. "You don't mind if I join you, right?"

"I'm not in the fucking mood, Daniels." She sighed, annoyed when Ryder sat down on the top step next to her and lit up a cigarette.

Jade rolled her eyes, stealing the cigarette from between Ryder's lips and putting it between her own, taking a long drag, before proceeding to stomp it out as she exhaled.

Ryder smirked in amusement at her antics, lighting up another cigarette. "No boy-toy tonight?" he asked with a teasing smile.

"We're not joined at the hip, you know." Jade snapped. Ryder always had a way of riling her up

"Could've fooled me," Ryder smirked as he took a long puff of his cigarette. "You hardly ever come out with your old friends, always hanging around with that android of yours and _his friends_."

"_His_ name is Beck," Jade said through gritted teeth. "And don't act like you haven't heard."

"What, did you and your boy-toy have another fight?" Ryder asked with a knowing smirk. "Let me guess, he purposely flirts with other girls to rile you up, you fight, spend some time apart until you apologize for something he orchestrated."

Jade abruptly stood up, loosing her footing a little, but Ryder managed to catch her. "Careful there, princess." he said as he helped her steady, but she swatted his arms away. "Fuck you, Ryder!" Jade spat out, her tone laced with venom.

"Oh, come on, Jade. You know I'm right. Oliver is an asshole."

Jade laughed humourlessly. "That's rich coming from the guy who used girls for a good grade."

"I never said I was perfect," Ryder said with a shrug of his shoulders. "Oliver hides his douchbag behaviour behind your crazy reactions, because he can. And you let him."

Before Ryder could even react to what was happening, Jade retaliated with a hard punch to the face, effectively knocking him back a few feet and leaving him dazed while she began to message the throbbing pain in her hand.

"Don't fucking talk to me like you know anything about our relationship." Jade hissed, her voice cracking at the end of the sentence.

"It seems I hit a sore spot." Ryder mumbled as he held his face.

"As fun as tonight has been, I'm going home." Jade smiled at him condescendingly, her tone laced with sarcasm as she straightened out her skirt, before turning in her combat boots.

"I'll drive you." Ryder offered as he followed her down the driveway.

Jade snorted. "Yeah, that's gonna happen."

"I'm not gonna let you drive when you've clearly been drinking."

"I'll walk."

"And I'm not gonna let you walk home alone in your drunken-stupor." He followed her down the road.

"Whatever." Jade flipped him the finger as continued to make her way home.

...

* * *

A/N: _'Didn't know there was an end of the road' _- Aaliyah _''I refuse''_

- Deadstar3


	2. Faking It

**Disclaimer: I own nothing!**

* * *

Jade was rudely awakened by the doorbell at 10am one indistinguishable Monday morning. At first she decided to ignore it, but after several minutes, she made her way down the stairs and flung the front door open.

"WHAT?" Jade ran a hand through her tousled onyx hair, confused, but mostly annoyed as Tori brushed past her into the sitting room.

"I've tried calling you, why haven't you answered my messages?" No answer. "Nobody has seen or heard from y- oh my god, what happened to your hand?" Tori asked, glancing down at Jade's splint covered hand with a look of concern.

"I fell," Jade replied dryly, a smirk gracing her lips as she remembered the event that led to her sprained hand.

Closing the front door, Jade slowly turned around glaring at her intruder as she crossed her arms.

"Uhm," Tori paused, mentally debating how to approach her friend. "I brought you some coffee and a bagel."

Jade raised a pointed eyebrow in skepticism. "Why?"

"Because I'm nice?"

"Try again."

"There is no ulterior motive, Jade." Tori paused, an idea coming to mind. "If you don't want it..."

"I didn't say I didn't want it." Tori bit the inside of her cheek to contain her delight as the Goth walked up to her and swiped the items out of her hands.

"You're welcome." Tori mumbled sarcastically as she watched Jade take a sip of her coffee.

"It's cold." Jade commented in disgust, scowling as she disposed of it in the trash.

"Oh, come on Jade. I had to driv-"

"VEGA!" Jade interrupted, not in the mood for one of Tori's endlessly long rambles. "I. Don't. Care."

"Oh," Tori's face fell for a couple of seconds, but quickly composed herself and was about to speak again when Jade beat her to the punch.

"Why are you in my house? And don't give me that bullshit about us being friends, because we aren't!"

"You might not consider me your friend, but I consider you mine." Tori strived to conceal her wounded expression, but Jade noticed, and felt a sharp twinge of guilt begin burning in the pit of her stomach, but ignored it. "And I was worried about you. Nobody has heard from you, you haven't returned our texts or calls - never mind answered the door when I've stopped by," Tori paused to catch her breath, surprised Jade hadn't interrupted her yet. "It's obvious you're taking this brea-"

Tori trailed off as Jade blinked a few times before shaking her head. "You can show yourself out."

"Jade," Tori pleaded as she followed Jade up the stairs. "I just want you to know that I'm here for you, and I want to help you. I know you're hurting, and-"

Jade turned on her heel, and Tori bumped into her. "I don't need your help. I'm fine!" Jade said in an automatic, emotionless tone that had Tori cringing inwardly. "Get the fuck out of my house."

Tori sighed as Jade disappeared upstairs, and made her way back down the stairs, out the front door, and back to school.

...

Jade arrived at school during lunch period, and was standing by the Grub Truck staring at the group as they were having lunch, laughing and joking around as if nothing had changed.

"Don't." A familiar voice said, almost like a warning, and Jade slowly turned around only to stand face to face with Ryder Daniels.

She tilted her head slightly to one side, observing his serious expression, though a little bruised, with a slightly annoyed one herself. With an eyebrow raised, she asked. "Don't what?"

"Don't whatever you were thinking about doing." Ryder gestured with a nod towards Beck who was sitting with Tori, Andre, Robbie and Cat at their regular table.

Jade scoffed as she reluctantly made her way over to a new table, Ryder at her heel. "What makes you think-"

"Because I know you," Ryder smirked knowingly as he took the seat opposite of her. "and you don't fool me, Jade West. You were going to make your way over there and cause a scene, because you are hurting while the robot doesn't even seem fazed by your break-up."

Jade glared at him, stabbing at her salad as he smugly took a sip of his coffee "I am not hurting," Jade huffed, a blatant lie. "...though your eye seems to be a little sore. Now your bruised ego has some company." She added mirthfully.

There were a few people staring at them in curiosity, but the pair didn't seem to notice. "Clever," Ryder paused, glancing down at her right hand. "Your mom told my mom about your hand..." _'Translation: Your mom told my mom that you are taking the break-up hard.'_

"Whatever," Jade muttered in a bored tone, taking a bite of her burrito. "Why do you keep bothering me?"

"Come on, Jade. We've been friendly before."

"Civil, at best, you ass." Jade corrected in an annoyed tone. "Just because we're in the same _social circuit_, doesn't mean we're _friends_."

"I know," Ryder relented. "but we've always had a good-humoured, playful repartee, and-"

Jade pursed er lips. "..._a good-humoured, playful repartee?_" Ryder shrugged, shooting the goth a teasing smile, "Yes, and..." Ryder paused, his facial features contorting into a frown when he noticed her go rigid.

"Isn't that Jadey?" Cat bounced in her seat as she spotted her friend at another table. The others followed Cat's line of vision."Why isn't she sitting with us?" Cat pouted, her excitement wearing off.

"I don't know, Cat." Tori glanced at Cat, before looking at Jade with a worried look. Ryder was bad news, and she didn't want him to hurt her any more than she already was. "I'm really worried about her."

"It's only been a couple of days. She'll come around, we just have to give her a little space." Andre said, always the voice of reason.

"Isolating herself from the group is not the answer." Tori insisted. She remembered how devastated Jade was after their last break-up, she couldn't imagine how she must feel like now. "She's even ignoring Cat who is supposed to be her best friend."

Beck zoned out as his friends continued to discuss whatever they were discussing, staring at his ex-girlfriend. He hadn't seen her since _that _night.

Imagine his infuriation when he saw said girl, actually interacting with Ryder Daniels, and him enjoying the Goth's company, grinning and laughing at Jade's comments. Not that he was jealous; Beck Oliver didn't get jealous.

She must have felt him staring, because blue-green eyes slowly drifted to meet his. Beck did his best to keep his expression as neutral as possible when he saw Ryder stand up, effectively blocking the intense staring contest between himself and his ex-girlfriend.

"Beck,"

"Uh?" Beck turned around to find the group looking at him.

"You okay?" Andre asked.

"You look a little pale." Robbie added.

"I'm good, man." Beck said cooly with a shrug of his shoulder, taking a sip of his water bottle. "Just a little dehydrated."

Once his friends were certain he was alright, they resumed their previous activities, and Beck chanced a glance in his ex-girlfriends direction only to find the table empty.

"Jade," Ryder trailed a few steps behind the Goth as they made their way down a hallway, and to Jade's locker.

"If you ask me if I'm fine, I will hit you. Again." Jade threatened with a growl.

They came to a halt outside of her scissor-decorated locker, and Ryder proceeded to rest on the locker next door as Jade opened her locker. "I know." Ryder laughed. "Just thought you'd like some gum."

Jade rolled her eyes as she scoffed. "Are you just going to follow me around?"

"I am sure you wouldn't mind hanging out with someone who doesn't have any opinions about you."Ryder said just as the warning bell went off. "Think about it."

...

When she arrived at Sikowitz's class, late as usual, everyone was eyeing her as she walked right past her usual seat next to Beck. They were hoping for fireworks, but she wasn't going to give them the satisfaction. Jade could also play indifferent.

Stood in front of a terrified classmate, she slowly raised an eyebrow, and smirked when the poor boy flew out of his seat.

"Ah, Jade. Lovely of you to join us today." Jade scowled at her teacher as she took to her new seat. "Beck, Tori. Up on the stage!"

Jade rolled her eyes as Sikowitz called the pair onto the stage. Of course he would call the two of them to the stage. His two favourite students; always getting the leads in every fucking play. _Ridiculous!_ She didn't even know why she bothered coming. No matter how hard she tried, every lead went to little miss perfect.

Fishing her pear-phone out of her bra, Jade resumed her previous game of Angry Birds, planning on tuning out the rest of the lesson, which was easier said than done when her annoying friend decided to bother her halfway through the lesson.

_"Jade." _

_"Psst, Jade." _

_ "Jade." _

This girl could not take a hint.

_ "Psst, psst, psst" _

_"Jaaaaade." _

_ "Jaaaaade"_

"Oh, for the love of God will you answer the ditz so she'll shut up." Rex was the one who decided to speak up.

"Rex," Robbie scolded.

"Come on, the girl can't even whisper."

"REX" Robbie yelped, covering his mouth as Cat squeaked.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"He didn't mean that," Robbie quickly comforted the ditzy redhead.

"Yes I did."

"Silence!" Sikowitz yelled, making most of the students jump out of their seats in surprise. "Jade,"

"What?" Jade asked in a bored tone, her eyes never leaving the screen. She could feel several eyes on her; one pair in particular making her nervous.

"Can you stop acting like a gank, and put that phone away."

"Whatever" Jade paused her game, and pocketed her phone as Sikowitz resumed his lesson.

...

* * *

A/N: It might not seem like it now, but I'm in the process of building a strong foundation for a Jade/Tori friendship. I feel like Jade gave all of herself in her relationship with Beck, making little time for her older friends like Cat, so that will be addressed at some point. Ryder already called her out on it in the prologue.

- Deadstar3


End file.
